---
title: 'Cost Accounting Manager at Northwood Space'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/cost-accounting-manager-northwood-space-torrance-wmettmn445cx'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-05'
---

# Cost Accounting Manager at Northwood Space

- **Company:** Northwood Space
- **Location:** Torrance, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Posted:** 2026-11-04
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-05
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/northwoodspace/6f365990-c63e-442d-9e43-f33797562a77

## Job description

About Northwood: Northwood is a modern space infrastructure company bringing the benefits of space to the masses through advanced communications technology. We are building a global network of phased array ground stations that enable real-time, reliable communication for satellite missions such as national security, global connectivity, and disaster response. With a vertically integrated approach, Northwood designs, builds, and rapidly deploys scalable systems that power the next generation of space missions. If you like solving complex challenges and seeing your work deployed around the world with real impact, Northwood is the place to do it.

Role: As our first Cost Accounting Manager, you will build and lead the cost accounting function as we scale our space infrastructure products from development into production. You will establish the strategy, policies, processes, and controls that provide accurate visibility into inventory, COGS, and the true cost of building our hardware while maintaining hands-on ownership of core accounting activities. Working closely with Finance, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Engineering, and Program teams, you will guide decisions on product costs, production efficiency, and inventory management while developing the systems and team capabilities needed to support increasingly complex manufacturing operations.

Responsibilities:

- Build and lead the company’s cost accounting function, defining policies, methodologies, controls, reporting, and team development priorities for inventory, standard costs, WIP, COGS, and manufacturing variances as production scales.
- Lead cost accounting activities across month-end and quarter-end close, preparing and reviewing journal entries, reconciliations, accruals, variance analyses, and supporting schedules to ensure accurate, timely financial reporting in accordance with US GAAP.
- Establish and oversee standard costing methodologies for purchased and manufactured hardware, including labor and overhead rates; investigate material variances and guide cross-functional actions to improve cost accuracy, production efficiency, and margins.
- Own inventory accounting policies and valuation across raw materials, WIP, and finished goods, including reserves, excess and obsolete inventory, and physical inventory controls; partner with operational teams to resolve discrepancies and maintain audit readiness.
- Serve as a financial partner to Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Engineering, and Program leadership, translating production activity, BOM changes, procurement trends, and capacity assumptions into product cost insights, cost reduction opportunities, and planning recommendations.
- Lead cost accounting systems and process improvements, setting ERP requirements, strengthening controls, automating workflows, and developing scalable reporting while building and mentoring the cost accounting team as business needs grow.

Basic Qualifications:

- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field with 7+ years of progressive experience in cost accounting, inventory accounting, or manufacturing accounting, including experience leading accounting processes, projects, or teams.
- Strong knowledge of US GAAP and manufacturing cost accounting, including standard costing, inventory valuation and reserves, WIP, COGS, purchase price variances, overhead allocation, absorption, and manufacturing inventory flows within an ERP environment.
- Demonstrated ability to lead cost accounting close and reporting, establish accounting policies and controls, review complex analyses, and resolve discrepancies across financial and operational data.
- Strong analytical, communication, and leadership skills, with advanced Excel proficiency and the ability to build processes, prioritize competing needs, and influence cross-functional decisions in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

- Experience in aerospace, defense, hardware, automotive, electronics, or another complex manufacturing environment, particularly within a startup or rapidly scaling organization.
- Experience building or scaling a cost accounting function, including establishing standard costing methodologies, inventory controls, management reporting, and team responsibilities.
- Experience partnering with operational leadership to drive measurable improvements in product costs, manufacturing efficiency, inventory management, and financial performance.
- Experience leading ERP implementations or improvements across cost accounting and inventory workflows, including requirements definition, testing, data validation, process automation, and user adoption.

Additional Information: If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Northwood Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

## About Northwood Space

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Building a global ground network for the future of space communications — delivering vertically integrated hardware, software, and shared infrastructure that lets space missions go from concept to live data delivery in months instead of years.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B, raised $100M in January 2026)
- **Headquarters**: Los Angeles, California, United States (additional offices in Torrance, CA; Washington, D.C.; with presence in the United Kingdom and India)
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Bridgit Mendler (CEO, Cofounder), Griffin Cleverly (Co-Founder, CTO), Shaurya Luthra (Co-Founder, Head of Digital)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Defense and Space Manufacturing; Space-to-ground infrastructure; Satellite communications.
- **Target customers**: B2B and B2G — commercial satellite operators, government agencies (e.g., U.S. Space Force), and defense customers.
- **Mission**: “Take space missions further, faster” by building resilient, cloud-like ground infrastructure for the next century of space operations.

## Products & Services
- **Hardware (Antennas built for scale)** : Phased-array antenna systems designed for volume manufacturing and rapid deployment (hours, not months).
- **Network (Shared infrastructure)** : A horizontally scalable, dynamic capacity provisioning network that eliminates single points of failure and works across multiple orbits and frequency bands.
- **Software (Orchestration intelligence)** : The intelligence layer that schedules contacts, routes data, and manages the entire ground network — enabling on-demand capacity without traditional procurement cycles.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed.
- **Key Metric**: Total funding raised — **$136.4M** across four rounds (Grant $100K in 2023, Seed $6.3M in 2024, Series A $30M in 2025, Series B $100M in 2026).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Andreessen Horowitz (led Seed, Series A, and Series B), Founders Fund (Seed), Washington Harbour Partners (led Series B and a prior round). Strategic partners include government agencies and commercial launch providers.
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Headcount grew **117.6% YoY** to 65 employees (as of mid-2026).
  - 48 active job postings (+140% YoY increase).
  - Successfully tested next-generation phased array antennas.
  - Won a U.S. Space Force contract (mentioned in news snippets).
  - Expanded to three U.S. offices and international presence (UK, India).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Vertically integrated ground stack** — from antenna hardware to network orchestration software — collapses deployment timelines from years to months/days.
- **Hardware that deploys in hours** and scales like cloud computing, avoiding traditional multi-year procurement cycles.
- **Resilient, shared infrastructure** designed for multiple orbits and frequency bands, reducing single points of failure.
- **Strong talent pipeline** from SpaceX, Anduril, Tesla, Palantir, and other top aerospace/defense firms.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale the global ground network** by deploying more sites and increasing capacity for both government and commercial customers.
- **Volume manufacturing** of antenna systems to meet surging demand.
- **Deepen partnerships** with defense and intelligence agencies (National Security Space) and commercial satellite operators.
- **Continue hiring aggressively** across engineering, operations, site management, and business development.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Values include humility, bias to action, autonomy, and exceptionalism. Teams are trusted to own their work and make decisions.
- **Impact**: Work is deployed globally — antennas built in Torrance, software orchestrated from LA, sites stood up worldwide.
- **Benefits**: Competitive salary, meaningful equity, comprehensive medical/dental/vision, employer-sponsored 401(k), paid parental leave, commuter benefits, sponsored clubs and quarterly events.
- **Work Model**: Likely on-site for hardware roles (Torrance, El Segundo, Washington D.C.); some software roles may offer flexibility. Two main office hubs: Los Angeles (HQ) and Washington D.C.
- **Engineering culture**: Fast iteration, real-world deployment, cross-functional collaboration. “If you like building quickly and seeing your work deployed in locations around the globe, we want you at Northwood.”

## Sources
1. [northwoodspace.io](https://www.northwoodspace.io/)
2. [northwoodspace.io/about-us](https://www.northwoodspace.io/about-us)
3. [northwoodspace.io/careers](https://www.northwoodspace.io/careers)
4. [LinkedIn – Northwood](https://www.linkedin.com/company/northwood-space)
5. [Crunchbase – Northwood Space](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/northwood-space)

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